Islamophobic Elites Lied to Destroy the Life of a Palestinian Brown Student

"To survive a school shooting is traumatic enough, but to then face a nationwide racist smear campaign that falsely accuses you of being the murderer is even worse. That was the fate of Mustapha Kharbouch, a queer Palestinian student at Brown University. While mourning his fellow students, Kharbouch found himself confronting false accusations. Across social media, attempts by the university to protect his privacy were painted as proof of guilt."

"Those who libeled Kharbouch were not anonymous social media trolls but some of the country's most powerful figures, including prominent plutocrats such as Shaun Maguire and Bill Ackman, government officials like US Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, lawmakers such as Representative Anna Paulina Luna, and influencers such as Laura Loomer (who is known to have the ear of President Donald Trump). These figures used their considerable megaphones to try to destroy the life of a private citizen."

"The best available evidence indicates that on Saturday December 13, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente went on a shooting spree that killed two people and injured nine at Brown University. Two days later, while still at large, Valente killed MIT scientist Nuno Loureiro, whom Valente had known in his native Portugal. Valente killed himself on December 16. His body was only found two days later."

Mustapha Kharbouch, a queer Palestinian student at Brown University, survived a campus shooting and was then falsely accused nationwide of being the murderer. Powerful public figures including Shaun Maguire, Bill Ackman, Harmeet Dhillon, Representative Anna Paulina Luna, and influencer Laura Loomer amplified the accusations and sought to destroy his life. The smear campaign exploited Islamophobia, which operated with near-total impunity and received little mainstream coverage. Evidence points to Claudio Manuel Neves Valente as the shooter who killed two people and injured nine at Brown, then killed MIT scientist Nuno Loureiro, and later died by suicide. Law enforcement and the FBI showed investigative ineptitude, and online posts helped break the case.

Read at The Nation